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I hope you are not taking this release as an excuse to vote it your Game of the Year again....

... would I do such a thing?

What I did was playing some FTL, which is a fun little sci-fi roguelike where the player takes control of a spaceship. My first ship, the HMS Epic Fail didn't come very far. True to it's name Epic Fail mis-plotted some jumps and found itself on the wrong corner of the galaxy. Battling my way through lines of rebels, eventually the ship fell apart.

My new ship, the GSV Xenophobe did much better. I lost some crew along the way, found some aliens to help me, destroyed some rebel and evil alien ships, saved colonies, abandoned merchants and much more. Now my tiny ship is supposed to land the final blow on the local death star-equivalent. But I don't have Han Solo! How shall I survive this?

All this talk of Dark Souls has me wanting to bump it up my list of games to play (above Bioshock, and after I finish...)

Goldeneye 007 Reloaded (Xbox 360). I only ever played multiplayer in the original game, so I don't know how faithful the remake is. What I do know is it's terribly generic- I don't know whether this is testament to the original's lasting, "ahead of it's time appeal, or more likely, it being updated to compare with more modern shooters.

It's a pretty solid game, playing through single player mode. My only major problem is that the enemy reaction time is superhuman. It's not so much trying to avoid getting hit whilst murdering the bad guys to death, but knowing when you have to take cover because you've just been shot continuously for five seconds, and are on the brink of death. I'm only playing on normal mode, too. I also don't really like that, instead of being able to carry one weapon and being able to take the attachments on and off, you have to carry two varients of the same weapon. For example, you can't turn the heat vision on a sniper rifle on and off- you need to carry the same rifle twice, one with heat vision, and one without. It's annoying.

The stealth elements of the game aren't terribly satisfying, but consistent for the most part, at least making sneaking around a viable option much of the time. The action itself is fun, if a little cumbersome. Nothing more to say- good game, but considering the original's reputation, I expected more. Spec-ops mode is a fun addition, however.

Also been playing Hexic that came free on my Xbox's HDD. As free games that come with consoles go, I rate this far above the original Gameboy's Tetris, and slightly below the Master System's Alex Kidd in Miracle World.

The Xenophobe failed in it's attempt to take out the rebel mothership. It was a valiant effort and for a short time it looked like the little ship might even be successful, but in the end it just got overwhelmed by superior firepower. The final blow came in form of a broadside straight into the oxygen supply. The good part was that all the fires on the ship went out with it. The bad part was that the crew suffocated. At that time no one of the original crew was left on board anyway. They all got eaten, frozen, torn to shreds or died in other cruel space-related fashion. FTL is a game about crews made from redshirts. In his dying breath the new captain FIRED EVERYTHING, but that didn't save the ship, the sector or the galaxy. A sad day for the federation.

But I unlocked a new ship type. Onwards! To infinity and beyond!

Also played Dark Souls, of course. Started a new Sunbro-character for fun and to relax from the kick ass bossfights of the DLC content. After beating Manus I seriously needed a break, my body shaking, a big cup of tea was necessary to calm down a bit. Now I'm ready for some jolly co-operation.

All this talk of Dark Souls has me wanting to bump it up my list of games to play (above Bioshock, and after I finish...)

You should, it is one of the best games out there, if you approach it in the right way (for some people, like me, the approach takes a bit of getting used to. I think it took me 11 hours to get past the first level on Demon's Souls). Be interesting to see if your lack of interest in Fantasy guff (I'm assuming) affects your enjoyment of the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Li-Ion

The Xenophobe failed in it's attempt to take out the rebel mothership.

I like your ship name. The game sounds intriguing - is there a massive amount of micromanagement in the game? I assume it is..~gasp~...turn-based?

I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've played of Dark Souls (got up to the first bell), it's a great game- just a time-consuming one. I'd like to get back into it (any recommendations for character builds, in fact, would be appreciated- I fancy a change from my usual warrior with an axe/ shield combo I use for action/ rpg games), but my extended gaming sessions are a few hours at night after everyone else is in bed. I do seem to be talking myself into another go at it, though...

Regarding the fantasy setting, Pedro, that was actually one of the things that made me pick it up on launch in the first place. The only bad fantasy worlds are the generic, LotR-type ones. When it's done right (in my opinion, stuff like Dragon Age, The Chronicle of the Black Sword books, etc), I love it. I really liked the idea of evil already prevailing in DS, and your character trying to change this, against all odds.

Started Bioshock last night. I went into it originally a couple of years ago, and was a little let down by it. Apparently I've adjusted my expectations accordingly, because right now I fucking love it. The shooter controls don't feel quite right, but I appreciate the feeling of weight my character has. And the mutants (splicers or whatever they're called) feel completely organic, they actually feel like these living creatures that I'm up against. The lack of this was my one major complaint about Arkham Asylum, so it's funny I should start playing a game almost straight after that rectifies my need for taking down things that feel more intelligent.

Love the story. The atmosphere is just as great as I remember. Only major complaint is the hacking minigame. It's tedious having to do it every few minutes if you want discounts on the various vending machines, etc.

any recommendations for character builds, in fact, would be appreciated- I fancy a change from my usual warrior with an axe/ shield combo I use for action/ rpg games

Then just head for an Axe/Shield combo in Dark Souls - a strength build sounds good for this kind of playstyle. Raise primarily strength & endurance (up to 40 maximum), with some vitality in between when you feel like you're not having enough hitpoints. Dexterity only as high as you need for the weapons you want to carry. If you want to use pyromancy you can raise attunement to 12 to get 2 slots, which is usually enough for some backup fire magic. If you want to use some support magic (enchant weapon, light, hidden body etc.) you should also raise intelligence to 15, just enough for greater weapon enchant and it's enough for all support spells and even some offensive ones (but they will be pretty weak). Faith is only important if you want to make some cleric with support spells and the major miracles all have pretty high faith requirements. Hence it ususally doesn't pay off to go "a bit" into faith.

Thanks for the advice there, should come in handy. On my first attempt at the game, I went in pretty much blind as to how to build a decent character, and I suspect that was my downfall (rather than my own personal skill at the game). Look forward to getting back into it!

Just finished downloading FTL after noticing it was on sale on Steam, and remembering you recommended it Li-Ion. After further investigation, it was even cheaper on the developer's website, and that included a Steam key, so I'm fairly confident I'm getting my money's worth after enjoying other recent roguelikes. All installed, and pretty eager to spend some time with it this evening.

The micro-managing of world crew and ship is pretty detailed, yet simple. Only complaints would be certain features I'd like to see included, such as the ability to lock doors to contain invaders who have teleported onto your ship, and the ability to perhaps forceably making defeated enemy crew members join you (perhaps a prison area upgrade on your rocket, followed by a supervision period where you have to keep a crew member in the same soon as your captured enemy, lest they sabotage you). Maybe all this would ruin the aforementioned simplicity, however. I love all the details I wouldn't have thought of, such as being able to control fires by clever use of the air-locks and selective door remote control.

It reminds me of the thoughtful qualities of the old Steve Jackson pocket games (Ogre, Car Wars, Illuminati) - 100% procedural gameplay where you make up your own story- love that kindof game- especially in the current market.

I'm now reaching the end of my NG+ playthrough with Dark Souls. Yesterday I beat Nito, Seath, Demon Firesage, Centipede Demon and Bed of Chaos in rapid succession. I found the beginning of NG+ to be very easy, since starting with fully upgraded gear the enemies' hp and damage doesn't scale fast enough to cause real troubles. Now I'm at level 110 and I run out of things to spend souls on. To not let them go to waste I bought every pyromancy in the book, every magic spell (even those I cant use) and upgraded a bunch of weapons and armor I might not even use. Starting a new game with some self-imposed restrictions (e.g. melee only, no upgraded armor, no weapon buffs, no shields, no leveling etc.) is more challenging than beating NG+.

Next up are Artorias, Manus, Kalameet, Sif, Four Kings and Gwyn himself and I'm done with this round. I could even skip the optional bosses and go straight for the end.